During The Great Depression, Bologna Was One Of The Most Accessible Foods To Americans

• 15th Century – Mortadella dates back to the 15th century, and the original recipes included myrtle, ‘mortella’ in Italian, hence the name.
• 1661 – Mortadella (Bologna’s European cousin) was so protected that the papacy created a clear definition to distinguish it from other, lesser versions of finely ground pork with chunks of fat. 
• 20th Century – Bologna really became popular when it was packaged in the 20th century. One of the most popular bologna companies, Oscar Mayer, was among the first to use vacuum-sealed packaging.
• 1928 – Bread slicers were commercialized, forever changing how Americans ate. As bologna moved from something available almost exclusively at deli counters to a homemade, bagged lunch, it became ubiquitous in pre-Depression America.
• 1929 – During the Great Depression, bologna was one of the most accessible foods to Americans. It was affordable and it kept well for long periods. This made the bologna sandwich a mainstay for many Americans and helped it gain a reputation as a food for hard times.
• 1963 – The New York Board of Education included bologna as an official lunch item, helping to feed the children in the country’s largest public school system.
• 1974 – One of the most successful and longest-running commercials ever made came from Oscar Meyer, featuring a child fishing and singing a jingle about how his bologna is named Oscar Meyer.
• Sometimes this specialty meat is spelled baloney since that’s how it is pronounced. However, the more common spelling is Bologna. It comes from the city of Bologna, Italy.
• It’s a type of sausage and is similar to Italian mortadella.
• Bologna Bowl – When you heat a slice of bologna, the fat renders and the round slice takes on a bowl shape, which may be filled with cheese or other fillings.
• The main difference between bologna and mortadella is that mortadella also contains added fat or lard, which gives it that marbled appearance. Mortadella sometimes includes pistachios or green olives in it —sort of like a fancy version of bologna’s olive loaf.
• U.S. government regulations require American bologna to be finely ground and without visible pieces of lard.
• There are 2,568 people in the U.S. listed on whitepages.com with the last name ‘Bologna’ and 127 with the last name ‘Baloney’
• Americans eat 800 million pounds of bologna annually.
• Bologna is a popular breakfast food in Newfoundland, served fried as a substitute for ham slices. It is also sometimes barbecued. It is also called “Newfie Steak.”
• A recent poll shows that only 35 percent of Americans know that bologna is a type of sausage.
• Packaged bologna sometimes comes with a red string or seal around it. What exactly is that stuff, and can you eat it? It might be a casing made from the gastrointestinal tracts of cattle, sheep, and hogs — which makes it slightly gross, but still edible.
• Beyond traditional sandwiches, you can fry bologna to make “bologna boats,” where a slice is cooked until it forms a bowl shape, then filled with mashed potatoes and cheese. Another inventive dish is the “bologna cake,” which layers bologna slices with seasoned cream cheese to resemble a savory cake.
• The classic bologna on white bread sandwich reigns supreme, with 70 percent of bologna eaters
• In Pennsylvania, “Lebanon bologna” is a smoked, fermented, and cured beef sausage with a tangy flavor, unlike typical pork-based bologna.
• In the Midwest, “ring bologna” is a popular variant, often smoked and sold in a distinctive looped shape.
• Bologna Burger Sliders: An update to the classic ground beef slider, adding in ground bologna and topped with pepper jack cheese and grilled onions for an extra flavor kick
• Bologna-Slaki with Tzatziki: A Mediterranean twist with skewers of bologna, red onion and red pepper chunks, marinated in olive oil, oregano, lemon and garlic, then grilled and served with a cool yogurt, cucumber, mint and cumin sauce.
• Crunchy Grilled Bologna and Cheese Sandwich: These indulgent, crispy-gooey sandwiches, topped and grilled with crushed potato chips are terrific for lunch, naturally, but also work fabulously as an hors d’oeuvres when cut into quarters and dipped into honey-mustard
• Grilled Bologna Salad Sandwich: Step away from the tuna melt and try this delicious bologna alternative chopped with provolone, Dijon mustard, hot relish and mayonnaise.
• The term “baloney” evolved in American slang to mean “nonsense” because people saw bologna sausage as a cheap, mixed-content meat product. This association led to its use in describing something as foolish or deceitful.
• Bologna Snowflakes are a thing. Slice bologna into a thin, round shape. Fold it, then take random bites. Open it and you have —bologna snowflakes.
• There is a variety of different types of bologna:
  • German Bologna
  • Kosher or halal bologna
  • Lebanon bologna
  • Lauantaimakkara
  • Rag bologna
  • South African polony
  • Vegetarian

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Mobile-Cuisine

Entity Magazine

Mashed

National Today

Days of the Year